CSI Miami: Eye On Crime
by CelticLady00
Summary: In an effort to improve public relations, between the Police and the public, the Miami Mayor agreed to let TV reality show "Eye On Crime" do a ride-along with the crime lab for a couple of days and film them in action much to Horatio's dismay.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **CSI Miami - Eye On Crime

**Author: **Celtic Lady

**Genre: **Humor

**Pairing(s): **None

**Characters: **General cast plus an other character named Jade Reno

**Rating: **T (age 13+)

**Summary: **In an effort to improve public relations, between the Police and the public, the Miami Mayor agreed to let TV reality show "Eye On Crime" do a ride-along with the crime lab for a couple of days and film them in action much to Horatio's dismay.

**Author's Notes: **This is my first CSI: Miami fan fiction and because I had so many ideas swirling around in my brain, I made this one of a three story arc. This particular story introduces my other character, Jade Reno which will be used in the next two stories (The Rape of Horatio Caine and Jaded). No bunnies were harmed in the writing of this story.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters so please don't sue. If the real owners want to use anything from my story (yeah, wishful thinking), go ahead, you can have it for free. :-)

* * *

"Let's get this dog and pony show on the road," Frank Tripp stated as he struggled to get the camera crew loaded into his car. He checked the pocket of his jacket, yep, he had his Rolaids and some Tylenol. He figured both would be needed before the day was over - he expected the worst and was rarely disappointed.

Horatio walked over with a mischievous grin on his face. He could tell Frank was already irritated and it was early in the morning. - the day wasn't likely to get any better. It was obvious to Frank that his friend was gloating. "Just wait until it's your turn Horatio. Sure you don't want to come along?"

Horatio tried hard to contain his smile as he looked down to the ground. He had Calleigh and Natalia lined up to cover for him, an option Frank didn't have available. Maybe he'd hold off telling Frank just yet. The second camera crew were going to be following Natalia around all day allowing Horatio to stay out of the limelight.

"Better you than me Frank." Horatio started to put on his sunglasses. "Better you--." He stopped suddenly in mid sentence as one of the lenses fell to the ground. As he looked down at the lens, from the corner of his eye, Horatio could see a satisfied smile come over Frank's face.

_Play "Won't Get Fooled Again" here and pretend the credits are running by. :-) _

Calleigh sat in the front passenger seat after the film crew suggested a "pretty face" might play better to the camera. Frank didn't mind at all. Calleigh knew her stuff and her eternally happy state of mind might cover his frustration at being given this assignment. Neither he nor Caine were looking forward to this as both wondered what they had ever done to deserve it. In fact, he was sure he saw Horatio's lower jaw drop and his eyes widened when they both were told.

Calleigh was the first to speak up, "Hi I'm Calleigh Duquesne and this is Detective Frank Tripp. And you are?"

The camera crew had been divided into two crews with the first consisting of Peter Wilkins and Steve Rowland and the second crew including their leader, Troy Maxwell, and his assistant, Malinda Armstrong. Steve, the outgoing one of the pair, immediately introduced himself and his partner.

After handshakes were finished, Calleigh eagerly spoke up, "so what exactly do you want us to do?" She turned around in her seat to look at them.

Steve flashed his pearly whites and explained, "Just tell the camera where we are going and explain what you're doing like you were giving a tour."

"Are we rolling?" she asked tentatively. Steve nodded yes as Calleigh brushed her blonde hair behind her ear and began, "we're on our way to investigate a missing person and make sure no foul play was involved." She smiled pleasantly to the camera. "We'll find out more when we arrive on the scene."

They finally pulled onto a rural road and eventually into a gravel driveway where Betty Adams, the sister of the missing man, was patiently waiting.

"I'm so glad you're here," she pleaded. "I've looked everywhere and Arnold is no where to be found."

Betty was a small framed woman of small statue with graying reddish-brown hair. Her despair was noticeable in her cracking voice every time she spoke.

"Mam, when did you last see you brother?" Calleigh asked as the camera man, Peter Wilkins, focused on a close-up of both ladies.

'Well," she drawled out as she thought for a moment and rubbed her chin. "I saw him day before yesterday when he told me he was gonna spread some manure on the fields." She continued, "then I called him that night and told him to stop by my place for lunch. I baked a Dutch apple pie, which is his favorite. He'd never miss a chance to have some of my apple pie," she smiled. "But when he never showed yesterday, I got worried and called him . . . no answer. I've been trying all night with no luck so I drove over early this morning and there's no sign of him."

Frank, who had been looking around the property, walked over to Calleigh. "His truck is still here and there is no sign of a struggle inside."

"The doors were all unlocked when I got here and he always locks his doors when he leaves," Betty added.

"Do you know if he's been having any trouble with anyone or is there anyone who'd want to hurt him?" asked Frank.

Betty suddenly remembered, "he's been arguing a lot with Green McCallister lately over a property line. Arnold is making Green move a shed three feet off his property."

Frank took down the name while Calleigh assured Mrs. Adams that they'd do all that they could to find her brother.

--OO--

Horatio was sitting in his office working on paperwork when a familiar face appeared in his doorway followed by a special red haired little girl.

"Susie? Is there anything wrong?" Horatio always worried about Susie and Madison as their visits always seemed to coincide with an emergency.

"No, not really." She nervously paused, then continued, "well, I guess I do have a favor to ask." She quickly added, "you can say no if you want -- don't feel like you have to say yes."

"I have a new job and I have to go to Orlando for two days of training, so I need someone to take care of Madison until I get back." Upon hearing her name, Madison looked up from playing with her doll and gave a big grin to Horatio. "She goes to child care during the day so it's not full-time or anything."

Horatio was pleasantly surprised. "Are you wanting me to take her?"

"Only if you don't mind," Susie quickly replied.

A big smile came over Horatio's face. "I'd love to."

Although Madison was actually his niece, the resemblance between the two was uncanny. Every time he looked at Madison, he saw what his own daughter might look like if he had one. Needless to say, Madison had a very special place in his heart.

Susie was so relieved. "I've been trying to find someone else in case you wasn't interested but couldn't come up with anyone." She then continued, "I've kind of waited till the last minute. I'm suppose to ride up with another girl this afternoon. Is this too short of notice?" She cringed hoping he wouldn't change his mind.

The smile never left his face as he told her, "no, not at all."

"Great!" She was elated as she handed him a paper with all the addresses and phone numbers he'd need. "I'll drop her off at day care and let them know you'll be taking care of her for a few days starting tonight."

After several hugs and thank you's, they both let Horatio return to his work. Somehow the day seemed brighter now that Horatio would have a little guest staying at his house. But it wasn't long before a cloud appeared as Horatio received a phone call from Frank Tripp. "Horatio, I've got bad news. My car has been stolen and the camera crew had all their equipment in the trunk."

"I'm on my way Frank." Horatio grabbed his jacket and hurried down the hallway towards the elevator just as Malinda Armstrong was coming around the corner with a cup of coffee in each hand. Bamm!! Horatio found himself drenched in hot coffee that covered all of the front of his suit.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed in shock, "I'm so sorry! I . . ." She brought her hands up as though to wipe the mess from his jacket but then thought otherwise. "I . . . I didn't see you."

If Horatio was angry, he didn't show it as he looked down at his soaked suit in dismay. Without missing a beat, he grabbed his cell and called Eric Delko and Ryan Wolfe sending them to investigate the stolen car instead. "I'll meet you both there after I run home and change," Horatio explained after filling his two CSI's in on his misfortune.

--OO--

"Oh great, just what I need . . . more cameras." Frank was clearly frustrated as Eric and Ryan arrived with the second camera crew in tow.

"Where's Horatio?" asked Frank irritably.

Ryan and Eric both snickered as Ryan explained, "he had a head-on with two cups of coffee compliments of the female camera lady." Eric continued, "he'll be here as soon as he changes clothes."

Frank just walked back over to Calleigh while rubbing his brow. "I knew this TV show was going to be trouble . . . I just knew it."

Troy Maxwell, the lead cameraman, approached Frank. "How could you let this happen! Do you know how much that equipment cost?"

"Hey, do you know how much my car cost?" demanded Frank at Troy's accusations. "A hell of a lot more than your damn cameras!"

Frank and Troy were about to go at it full throttle when Horatio finally arrived and broke it up. "Frank, I need to see you over here," demanded Horatio. Troy started to follow but Horatio stopped him. "Sir, I need you to wait over there while I talk to the detective."

Eric began interviewing the two cameramen who were with Frank and Calleigh. "Do either of you want to tell me what happened?"

Steve and Peter looked at each other dumbfounded before Peter finally spoke, "we just went inside to buy some snacks while the cop ... I mean officer was fueling up." Steve joined in, "yeah, we came out just in time to see Frank chasing the car on foot as it sped away." He ran his fingers through his blonde hair in frustration.

Horatio was basically getting the same story from Frank.

"Horatio, I just turned my back for a minute to dump some trash and the next thing I hear is my car peeling out of the parking lot."

"Was there anyone hanging around close by?" inquired Horatio.

"No! No one." Frank thought for a moment and then realized, "but there was another car here fueling up." Frank continued, "I have some units looking for my car using the GPS."

Suddenly, Horatio's phone rang and he excused himself. "This is Horatio Caine." After several seconds he asked, "is she okay?" He motioned for Eric to join him as he continued, "okay, I'll be right there."

Eric noticed Horatio's concern as he walked over and inquired, "what's up?"

"I need to take care of some personal business. Do you want to take the lead on this case?"

"Sure H, no problem. Everything okay?"

"I just need to go pick up a sick little girl that I'm babysitting." Horatio smiled at the thought of him being a babysitter.

Eric was relieved that it wasn't anything really bad and smiled in acknowledgement.

After picking up Madison at day care, Horatio had no choice but to take her to work with him. As he walked down the hallway carrying her, he tried to comfort the whimpering child with little success when IAB Rick Stetler approached him. "Horatio." Before he continued, he looked at the red headed little girl and asked, "she yours?" Rick knew quite well that this was Raymond's child but couldn't help taking a jab at his nemesis.

Horatio was not amused and testily asked Stetler what he wanted.

"I want to know what is going on with Tripp's stolen car. Has it been recovered yet?"

"We're working on it Rick," stated Horatio.

"Well that's not good enough," Stetler demanded. "We have a camera crew filming your team's screw-ups! You know this makes the entire department look bad don't you?"

Before Horatio could respond, little Madison threw up all over the front of Stetler's suit and then began crying loudly when she saw what she had done.

"I have to go Rick. I have a sick kid here." With that said, Horatio walked away quickly but he couldn't help smiling at Madison's good timing as he patted her back. "It's okay Madison, he deserved it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Eye on Crime - Chapter 2  
By Celtic Lady**

The Miami sun was bright overhead as several police cars, with sirens blaring, were in hot pursuit of Frank's stolen car followed by Eric, Ryan and the entire camera crew packed in a Hummer. The second film crew was filming everything as the thieves lead them on a high speed chase through street after street in an attempt to loose them.

Dan Cooper was on the radio with Eric directing him to the car using the GPS (Global Positioning System). He was able to stay on the vehicle through every turn but before the lead police car could use the Road Patriot (electronic vehicle disabling device) to disable the car, the driver lost control and landed in the canal. Three teenagers immediately bailed out and fled the scene on foot in different directions with several patrolmen giving chase behind them. The camera crew was catching everything on tape as the action happened and seemed quite satisfied with the excitement.

When Frank Tripp arrived and discovered his new car was under water, he couldn't contain himself anymore and let rip several hard core curse words which Troy Maxwell was more than happy to record.

An hour later, Eric had hooked the car up to a tow truck and motioned for them to start pulling it out of the water. It was a slow process but all Frank could do was wait. As the top of the car broke through the water, everyone discovered that another surprise was in store for them. Hanging half in the slightly opened passenger window was a large alligator and he appeared to be stuck.

Eric scratched his head then finally walked over and opened the driver's door to let the water run out along with a full box of soaked donuts – no doubt the reason for the alligator's interest in the car. The gator thrashed wildly upon seeing Eric causing him to jump back startled.

The camera crew were elated that they were finally catching some good action and zoomed in on the gator like it was the story of the century. Ultimately the alligator wiggled free and climbed out of the car to make a mad dash for the canal. After things settled down, the crew began to take inventory of their damaged equipment as each piece was laid out on the ground. Meanwhile, Malinda Armstrong approached Eric. She flirtatiously smiled as she asked him, "weren't you scared going into alligator infested waters to retrieve the car?"

Eric smiled as he tried to play down the danger. "It's my job. Besides, I had Ryan Wolfe to cover my back." He gestured over to Ryan.

"Can you tell us what is going to happen to the teenagers and how often this happens?" She had the camera aimed to film his response.

Eric smiled, "the youths will be taken to booking where they will be fingerprinted and photographed. Then they will be able to call their parents." Looking at Frank's car, Eric continued, "as to the car, about all we can do is let the insurance take care of it. The good news is that no one got hurt."

--OO--

After having to listen to the moans and groans of the camera crew, Eric had put in a phone call to Cooper to see if the lab had any spare video cameras he could lend to "Eye on Crime." Cooper didn't have any but knew of someone who might. He made a quick call to Jade Reno who worked the night shift in the AV lab - cameras and surveillance were her specialty. After several apologies for waking her up in the middle of the day, he had what they needed.

Jade arrived about an hour later in torn, faded jeans and a faded red T-shirt with sage green paint spots on it. She had her usual pair of sunglasses propped up on the top of her sandy blonde head but her disposition was far from normal. She spoke very little and it was obvious she wasn't a day person by her lack of enthusiasm.

"Okay Cooper, here are the cameras you wanted." She sat them down on the table. "You owe me for this!" She covered her mouth as she gave a big yawn and was about to leave when Eric and the camera crew came walking down the hallway all talking at once and all excited over the recovered film.

"I can't believe the car thieves were so stupid to film themselves with our cameras. Talk about a great break for us." Troy beamed. "I sure hope you found us some decent cameras." He looked over at Eric as he spoke.

As Eric looked through the glass at Jade and Dan in the AV lab, he quickly responded, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I found you some replacement cameras . . . on loan."

"What is the bad news?" inquired Troy.

"The film of the teenagers joy riding is evidence and I need the tape." He held out his hand for the tape.

"No way!" Troy was beside himself. "Having that tape of the teenagers view is critical. This will be the best episode yet!"

While Eric and Troy were bickering back and forth, Dan and Jade were watching the whole thing from inside the room. "Looks like the kids filmed themselves with the stolen cameras," offered Jade. Still tired, she pulled up a seat next to Dan and sat down.

"How do you know that?" Dan was puzzled. He couldn't hear a thing inside the AV room.

Jade leaned over towards him and whispered, "I can read lips . . . but don't tell anyone." She smiled before continuing, "I get the best gossip this way."

"Cool! What else are they saying?" Dan leaned in as he curiously inquired.

Jade looked at each person before continuing, "the blonde guy, on the phone, is gay and is talking 'sweet nothings' with his boyfriend." She then looked at the girl who was also on the phone. "The girl must be talking to one of her girlfriends." Jade paused and watched her for a few minutes then chuckled, "she thinks Delko is 'Oh so hot!' and is telling her friend about him." She made a finger in the throat gesture and simulated gagging.

Dan laughed, "what, you don't think he's hot?"

"Do you?" She asked mockingly.

She continued, "I find him more annoying than hot. He just gets on my nerves."

"Wow." Dan was surprised to hear this. "Every other girl I know would kill for a date with him."

Jade retorted, "Well not me."

Dan laughed, "hey, if you read any lips of any girls hot for me, let me know okay."

"Oh, you mean like when Maxine Valera was checking out your butt and making sexy remarks about it?"

His eyes widened, "she was?"

Jade coolly responded, "Oh . . . yeah!"

"Man, we need to get you on days so you can really get the good gossip!" Dan could think of all sorts of ways that her ability could come in handy.

She shrugged her shoulders again, "I'm pretty much a night owl. I don't know if I can even function on the day shift." She then waved goodbye as she trudged out the door. "My work here is done."

Before heading back home to finish her sleeping, Jade thought she'd poke her head into Horatio Caine's office. She always tried to find an opportunity to talk to him even if it was only to say hello. You never knew when a little brown-nosing might come in handy. As she stood in his doorway, she was startled to see him rocking a little red headed girl in his arms while trying to comfort her.

"Jade," Madison weakly spoke as she held out her little arm.

"Hey Madison, what are you doing here?" Jade compassionately inquired.

"You know Madison?" Horatio queried.

"Sure. She and her mom live in my apartment building," Jade explained. "I baby-sit her sometimes."

Madison softly spoke up, "I'm sick . . . I threw up."

"Oh, you poor baby." Jade took Madison from Horatio's lap and held her close to her chest while rubbing her back. Madison seemed to quiet down and closed her eyes.

Horatio finally answered Jade's question. "I'm babysitting while Susie goes to two days of training." He continued, "but I wasn't expecting Madison to get sick and have to bring her to work."

Understanding Horatio's problem and thinking it would be a good way to get to know him better, Jade offered, "well, I don't come in till midnight tonight. Do you want me to take her till you get off work?"

Horatio was surprised and grateful to find someone to help with Madison, especially while she was sick, plus Jade had watched her before which he figured would be helpful. The day care center didn't want a sick child transmitting the illness to the other children and Horatio really didn't think bringing her to work was the best way to take care of her so he decided to take Jade up on her offer.

"That would be a big help to me if you don't mind."

Jade was more than happy to watch Madison. "If she's still sick tomorrow, bring her to work. I get off at 8:30 and I can take her then. I'll check with you before I leave in the morning."

"Great!" Horatio grabbed a pen and paper. "Give me your address and phone number. I'll probably be by around 6:00 or so to get her."

Jade gave him the information, including her cell and home phone numbers, and even drew a little map to help him find the building. Then she and Madison left.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please don't forget to leave a review of my story. Thanks. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Eye on Crime - Chapter 3  
By Celtic Lady**

Frank and Calleigh casually walked up to the front door of Green McCallister's house and knocked. The camera crew stood nearby filming as he answered the door bewildered at what was going on.

"Mr. McCallister?" Calleigh asked.

"Yes."

"We're with the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. May we come in?" she smiled.

He motioned for everyone to come inside. "What's this all about?"

"Mr. McCallister, we're investigating the disappearance of your neighbor, Arnold Miller." Calleigh explained. "Can you tell us the last time you saw him?"

"Last week sometime," he answered cautiously.

Frank quickly jumped in, "I heard you and him have some kind of beef. You want to tell us about that?"

McCallister was a little defensive when he replied. "We got that all cleared up -we came to an agreement."

"That agreement involve murder?" Frank drilled.

"Murder! No way!" McCallister's demeanor quickly turned from defensive to scared in a matter of seconds, "I didn't kill anyone . . . I swear!"

Not satisfied with his answer, Frank asked, "Well, what were you arguing about?"

Eager to explain himself, McCallister continued, "I'm putting in a concrete slab for my shed to sit on. So I moved my shed over the property line a little to have room to work. Arnold thought it was a permanent move and got mad but once I showed him what I was doing and that it would only be there 2 . . . 3 weeks top, he was alright with it."

Upon hearing concrete slab, Calleigh raised an eyebrow. "Can you show us the slab?"

"Sure, it's out back." He motioned for them to follow him out the back door where he showed them the location.

Within the hour, Calleigh had ground penetrating radar going over the area of concrete. Frank walked over to Calleigh who was supervising the operation. "Anything?"

"No, but we're not done yet." Calleigh was being very cautious as the film crew caught everything on tape. She didn't want to give out too much information.

"Well, I checked with Miller's credit cards and there haven't been any charges made. You'd think that if he just ran off, we'd be able to find him that way."

"Yeah, but think about it." Calleigh gave a big flirtatious smile to Frank. "If you ran off with a gorgeous blonde, would you leave your house unlocked and your vehicle behind?" She gave him a little wink as she said blonde.

Frank chuckled, "only if I won the lottery."

--OO--

It was 6:30 p.m. before Horatio could leave work and find Jade's apartment. After knocking on the door, he could hear Madison's voice yelling, "Door!" She sounded much better and much louder which he took to be a good sign. Seconds later Jade opened the door.

"Hi Horatio. Come on in." Jade motioned him inside as she continued, "I put together some things for her that you might need -- Children's Tylenol, Pepto-Bismol, nightlight--."

Interrupting, Madison ran out of the bedroom and pleaded, "can I take Teddy." She clutched the little teddy bear closer.

"Yes, you can take teddy. But I want him back when you're done!" Jade shook her finger lovingly at Madison to make her point. "C'mon, Horatio is waiting."

Madison ran back into the bedroom for one last thing and came walking out wearing her white fuzzy bunny slippers with pink ears.

Jade took one look and turned to Horatio. "Don't ask."

He smiled.

While Horatio waited for Madison to get ready, he casually looked around Jade's apartment. Although it was a small apartment, it had been completely remodeled in a traditional style with crown molding, ceiling medallions, custom kitchen cabinets, hardwood floors, and all sorts of decorative woodwork. He had never seen an apartment fixed up so well - it looked like a little Victorian cottage. Horatio wondered if Susie's apartment looked as good and if so, how could she afford the rent.

"This is a really nice apartment." Jade could tell he was impressed. "It looks like the landlord really went all out in fixing it up."

"Thanks." Jade handed the bag of medicine to Horatio and continued, "I'm slowly getting this building remodeled. It'll look really great when I get it all done." She looked around and admired her work.

"You did this?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, I buy old houses and remodel them for resale. This is how I make most of my money -- I do all the work myself."

"So you're going to sell it when your finished." Horatio was starting to understand. Susie and Madison were probably temporary tenants.

"No, maybe not this building. I get a good income from the renters."

Horatio made a mental note to ask Susie what her rent was. He was sure she couldn't afford to live there.

After securing Madison in the car seat, Horatio said goodbye and drove away with Madison waving wildly to Jade.

Later that night, Horatio was sleeping soundly when a small shadowy figure approached the side of his bed. After watching him take several deep breaths, Madison climbed into the king size bed and snuggled up beside him with her teddy bear clutched tightly to her chest. Horatio automatically put his arm around the child without waking up and before long, Madison was sound asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Eye on Crime - Chapter 4  
By Celtic Lady**

Early the next morning, Horatio was running late. He didn't realize how long it took little girls to get ready, or rather, how long it would take 'him' to get her dressed, fed, find her missing teddy bear that she couldn't possibly leave without, and of course put on her white bunny slippers with the pink ears.

By the time he reached work, Madison had fallen asleep again so he laid her on the couch in his office and covered her with his blue lab coat. He then quickly walked down the hallway to the Audio Visual lab. He hoped Jade didn't forget her offer to watch Madison and wanted to make sure she was still there. When he got to the lab, Jade Reno was in a heated argument with Troy Maxwell and Peter Wilkins while Dan looked on.

"These cameras have always worked fine for me so don't stand there and tell me they're a piece of sh--!" Jade was interrupted by Horatio.

"Is there a problem in here?" he sternly inquired.

Troy immediately turned his anger towards Horatio, "these loaner cameras just aren't going to work. They keep stopping in the middle of filming. They're a piece of junk." While Troy was ranting and raving to Horatio, Jade had secretly turned on the first camera which she had already cleaned up. Somehow she just knew it would come in handy.

"They worked fine for me so I don't know what your problem is," Jade retorted angrily.

Before Troy could respond, Horatio forcefully said, "enough!" He motioned for Jade and Dan to join him in the hallway. "Do either of you have any other cameras they could borrow?"

Frustrated, Jade took a deep breath to settle down, then continued, "No. These are all I have." Dan likewise nodded no. "Horatio, both of these cameras were full of sand when they brought them in this morning. They aren't taking care of them -- that's why they aren't working," Jade pleaded.

"Okay." Horatio thought for a moment. "Let me talk to Mr. Maxwell and Dan try and get these cameras cleaned up." Jade motioned for Dan to join her as she grabbed the second camera. Together they went down to the garage to use the air hose to blow out the sand in hopes it would be faster.

"Dan, when you get back, play back the other camera on the big screen," Jade instructed as a satisfied smile came over her face.

"Why?" Dan was puzzled at her request.

Jade explained her little ploy, "I turned the other camera on before we went out to the hallway. While we were there, I saw them talking about the sand in the cameras. They knew what they had done but want to blame it on the cameras. So let's just make them eat their own words."

Dan liked her plan and agreed to go along with it. This TV show was beginning to be a big pain for him.

"Listen, I have to go. I have to baby-sit a little girl so I need to get out of here." Jade rushed out the door and headed to Horatio's office.

Meanwhile, a sleepy-eyed little girl awoke all alone. Realizing where she was, Madison decided to go looking for Horatio. She slipped her arms into the lab coat which then dragged the floor like a long robe. Clutching her teddy bear, she slowly ventured down the hallway peeking into several rooms as she went along hoping her Uncle Horatio would be there. Several people walked by and gazed but none stopped to help her. As she turned down several corridors, Madison became more and more aware that she was lost. With tears forming in her eyes, she turned one last corner and saw an angel.

Calleigh saw the lost little girl and knelt down to the child's level to talk to her. "Well hello there sweetie. What are you doing way down here?"

Somewhat scared, Madison whispered, "I'm looking for Uncle Ratio."

Calleigh picked up Madison and cheerfully replied, "well, I think I can find him for you." She picked up her cell phone and dialed Horatio's phone number.

"Are you by chance missing a cute little girl in white bunny slippers with pink ears?" Calleigh gave Madison a little wink which made her laugh. "Well where are you and I'll bring her over." Horatio told her and they ended the call. "Let's go see your Uncle Horatio okay."

Madison happily grinned and nodded yes.

Horatio ended the phone call and walked back into the Audio Visual Lab. "Troy, how did the cameras get full of sand?" He put his hands on his hips, in the classic H pose, to illustrate his displeasure.

Troy again argued that they had nothing to do with the cameras as Dan returned minutes later.

Troy was very defensive when he replied back, "what sand! These cameras are spotless and they still don't work. Don't you have anything better than these pieces of junk?" Troy and Horatio were still throwing accusations back and forth as Dan qued the tape to the appropriate beginning and hit the play button. Sudden silence hit the room as the image appeared big and brightly on the big screen to Troy's chagrin.

_"Listen, let me do all the talking," Troy whispered to Peter. "We've got some really hot beach scenes and better their cameras get screwed up and full of sand than ours."_

Dan turned the tape off as Horatio leaned in towards Troy and sarcastically smiled, "looks like your problem is operator error. I suggest you take better care of 'our' cameras or we . . . we may just revoke our generosity."

Horatio walked out into the hallway as Jade approached him. "Did you take Madison to child care this morning? I didn't see her in your office."

Horatio smiled, "she decided to take a self tour of the crime lab while I was busy." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Calleigh found her and is bringing her up." No sooner than he said that, Calleigh rounded the corner with Madison.

"Here we go!" Calleigh cheered.

Jade took the girl into her arms and left as she saw Delko walking up.

Horatio turned to Calleigh and inquired about the missing person, "any luck so far with Mr. Miller?"

"No. Nothing." She shook her head. "I think I need to go recheck the house. Maybe I missed something."

"Take Eric with you." Horatio then walked back to his office.

Eric entered the Audio Visual lab as Troy and Peter were leaving. After the door had closed, he asked Dan, "I hear they aren't happy?"

Dan fully enjoyed telling Delko about what had transpired along with showing him the tape. After a good chuckle, Dan brought up that the female camera person was quite interested in Delko and thought he was hot. Delko's interest peaked.

"Really?" He looked pleased with himself. "I guess I need to go check her out although I kind of had my eyes on Jade." He turned around to see if Jade was still there.

"Forget Jade," beamed Dan. He walked over to Jade's desk and opened the top drawer for Delko to see. Inside was a voodoo doll with his name stapled on the front. "So what did you do to her?"

"Ouch!" Delko picked up the doll and looked at it. "Do you believe in this stuff?"

Dan shook his head no. "Not really."

Laughing, Delko added, "Neither do I." He put the doll back into the drawer and closed it. "What ever I did, I better not do it again."

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**Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for your kind reviews. I'm glad you enjoy the story. I've discovered that reviews are addictive - I want more. :-D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Eye on Crime - Chapter 5 of 5  
By Celtic Lady**

Frank pulled into the Miller driveway with the whole entourage packed into the Hummer. Eric had updated him on the charade that Troy had tried to pull earlier that morning. Needless to say, Troy and Peter were both keeping pretty quiet.

Everyone climbed out and Eric began looking around the property. Upon seeing the open manure tank on the back of the truck, he asked Calleigh, "did you check in there?" He gestured upwards to the open door.

Calleigh turned on her best charm as she responded, "Oh! Would you mind? I'm wearing white and it picks up everything." She gave a big smile at Delko hoping to encourage him to look instead.

"Your crime scene, I'm just here as an observer," Delko smiled back not taking the bait.

Disappointed, Calleigh looked around for a ladder and spotted one not far from the truck. After setting it up, she then went in search of a strong stick to stir the soupy manure for a body. The camera crew was standing by as she climbed up the rungs and then leaned over towards the door. Not being able to get good leverage, she had to climb higher on the ladder and try again when the unimaginable happened.

Her scream grabbed Frank's attention as he ran over with his gun drawn. As he peered upwards, he quickly understood the problem. Calleigh peered out the open door covered in the soupy contents. "I found Mr. Miller!" she exclaimed.

Frank couldn't do anything but stare at Calleigh while Eric was laughing hysterically.

"Need any help?" chided Eric as he tried to stifle his laughing.

Calleigh's stare said it all as he quickly grabbed the fallen ladder to assist her in getting down. While Eric held the ladder, Calleigh slowly climbed out of the vat dripping it's contents everywhere.

"Hey watch out. I'm wearing white too!" exclaimed Eric as he shifted to avoid the drops.

"Sorry," was all that she could reply as she tried to pull her weight over. But the manure was somewhat slippery and she lost her footing and fell. Delko had no choice as he caught her in his arms along with everything that she was wearing. After he put her down, he could see the brown substance all over the front of his clothes and winced at the thought.

Frank smiled as he stood out of the way and let them deal with the problem. Instead, he decided to call the Coroner to inform them of a pick-up.

Calleigh spotted a garden hose and turned on the water to wash herself down. She basically had to shower herself in order to get it out of her hair and her clothes. Upon seeing her success, Delko joined her.

After they finished, it was Frank who noticed another problem. He rushed up to Calleigh and offered her his jacket. "Here, I think you'll need this." He held it open for her to put her arms in.

Not understanding, Calleigh tried to give it back, rather than get it wet, when he further explained, "you kind of have the wet T-shirt thing going on."

She looked down suddenly as she covered herself. 'Oh, my." With a slight blush on her face, she thanked Frank for his southern generosity and put on the jacket.

Delko's modesty didn't seem to bother him at all as he stood there dripping wet. Malinda, on the other hand, had other ideas as she zoomed her camera in on him panning up and down.

Shortly thereafter, the place was busy with people roping off the truck and the coroner's office trying to get the body out of the tank – with great difficulty. Horatio had heard the news and arrived to see how things were going. Upon seeing the drenched Calleigh and Delko, he inquired, "what happened?"

Delko was still laughing as he quipped, "Calleigh found Mr. Miller in the manure tank and I think we know how he wound up there."

Calleigh just shook her head at Delko's observations. "Then I fell getting out of the tank and Delko caught me."

Horatio grinned, "why don't the two of you go shower and get into some clean clothes. I'll take over here."

Spotting Frank, Horatio walked over to him. "Frank, why don't you take Calleigh and Eric back to the lab so they can change into some dry clothes."

"Great!" Frank was more than glad to get out of there.

--OO--

Later that afternoon, Horatio stood in the medical observatory as he watched Dr. Alexx Woods perform an autopsy on Arnold Miller. With no apparent external injuries, the autopsy was their only hope of finding his cause of death. It didn't take her long to find the culprit. She held up the man's heart as she spoke into the recorder. "Massive coronary. Nobody could have helped this poor man - he probably dropped dead on the spot."

Horatio nodded to himself and left.

With the day at it's end, he packed up his things and went to pick up Madison at Jade's apartment. When he got there, he was surprised to see Madison answer the door. Jade walked up moments later sniffling as she greeted him.

"Looks like I may have caught her Flu," Jade explained as she nodded towards Madison. "I'll be okay."

Again, Horatio thanked her for taking the sick child off his hands and again, Madison found her way into his bed later that night and cuddled up next to him.

The next afternoon, Jade called Horatio to let him know she wouldn't be in that night. Horatio understood.

When he left work, he stopped and picked up some hot chicken noodle soup at a restaurant and drove to Jade's apartment. When she answered the door, he handed her the soup. "I thought you might need this."

Jade was elated as she took the gift. "Just what I need. Thank you."

Horatio was just about to turn and leave when he felt the strange urge to look down. On Jade's feet he saw white fuzzy bunny slippers with pink ears.

Horatio smiled.

_THE END._

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**Author's Note: The next two stories, of this three story arc, are already written and will be posted in the next few days. If you liked this story and would like to see me write another "humerous" version, please let me know. Oh, and I'm taking suggestions as to what terrible things I can do to the characters!**


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